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Christmas On The Road

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

I know, I know, it’s only December 23rd and I’m already posting about Christmas, but you will have to forgive us since we decided to move Christmas up a few days in order to fit it into our schedule. A few weeks ago Kevin and I stayed at an absolutely beautiful pension in the small town of Bergama (on the coast in Turkey) and we knew straight away that we would be back for the holidays since there was a full size kitchen we could cook in, a beautiful courtyard, and a very friendly owner who we had become friends with.

After a night bus from Istanbul we spent a rest day reading, sleeping, and eating, before hiking up the hill to explore the ruins above. Here is a stadium which use to seat 10,000 people, made famous for the fact that it is said to be the steepest in the world.

There were also some ruins at the top of the hill from old buildings and even an old castle, but of course, it’s little more than a few old rocks now.

It was also nice and sunny, and perfect for a photo shoot! Though Kevin and I have been traveling for over a year, this last week of traveling with our friends has felt like a whole separate trip, a sort of vacation inside of our cycling lifestyle.

After visiting the enormous local market (which sold everything from live chickens, to shirts, to mandarins) we started to prepare our Christmas meal with the help of our head chef, Myra. We – meaning Myra with a tiny bit of our help – cooked chicken, potatoes, salad, pasta, and best of all, an apple pie. Earlier that morning a French family of six had arrived at our pension, so instead of just the four of us, we were eleven! We played Christmas music on the stereo, ate until we could no longer move, and had a wonderful evening with friends. Though it may have been a few days early, it truly felt like Christmas. (The following photos were taken with Myra’s phone).

For those of you who have been following us recently, you probably remember that there was a mystery package to be opened when my brother came, and sure enough, Kevin got me a kindle! We also got to open all of our new gear which my mother had been collecting over the last few months (t-shirt, keens, solar panel, new pump for broken stove… you can check this article for more information about our new gear) and most importantly, our new tent which will become our home once we arrive to South America! As we tore through my brothers suitcase on the first night in Istanbul we were jumping up and down like little children in our dorm room, it’s amazing how exciting a new shirt can be.

Here are a few photos from Istanbul which didn’t make it onto the last post.

And one from just a few minutes ago here in our guest house, a sleepover night and a movie in bed! (Now that we constantly have Internet for the next few days, you guys are actually following us in real time!)